The restructuring of the Bundeswehr to strengthen national and alliance defense is taking shape. In the presence of Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD), a new territorial command was set up in Berlin on Monday, which bundles the tasks within Germany that were previously distributed across the Bundeswehr. These include homeland security, disaster relief and logistical support for troop deployments. The command center will be in operation around the clock and will create situation reports.
The new command, based in the Julius-Leber barracks in Berlin, acts as a counterpart to the operational command near Potsdam, which controls the Bundeswehr’s foreign missions. In principle, it will take over the management of all Bundeswehr activities in homeland security, i.e. on German territory, the Defense Ministry said. “This strengthens Germany’s resilience in the event of crises, disasters and other security-related events, as well as in the case of defense.”
Lieutenant General Carsten Breuer, who headed the Corona crisis team in the Chancellery for a few months, is in charge of the domestic command of the Bundeswehr. Around 550 soldiers and 250 civilians will assist him. Among other things, the 16 regional commands of the Bundeswehr and the interfaces between the troops and the EU and NATO are subordinate to the new management level. Due to its geographical location, Germany plays a special role as a kind of hub for military transports when troops are deployed through Europe. It has undertaken to provide logistical support to allied forces.
The biggest challenge is hybrid attacks
Breuer described targeted hybrid attacks on Germany’s security architecture as the greatest challenge. It is about the danger that opponents combine classic military operations with economic pressure and hacker attacks on the infrastructure, propaganda in the media and social networks could also play a role. According to Breuer, the “worst case” is a situation “where you have to say that it’s not really peace anymore, but it’s not quite war yet either.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had to cancel his participation in the ceremonial establishment of the command due to a corona disease. He recently declared the defense of the country and the alliance to be their core mission before commanders of the Bundeswehr. “Everything else is derived from this order,” said Scholz in his keynote speech, all other tasks “have to be subordinate to this order”.
For years, foreign missions, such as in Mali or Afghanistan, had shaped the planning of the armed forces. National and alliance defense, on the other hand, had fallen out of focus and been neglected. This went so far that complete management structures were lost. Because of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the federal government is now trying to change course. Minister Lambrecht explained that the changes must also reach the structures of the Bundeswehr. A special fund of 100 billion euros is available for the modernization of the armed forces.